Whether you like the the NHL or not, the first clip should probably rank as your #1 of any national anthem performance in pro sports history. I really wonder why you don’t see even a remotely close effort here south of the border.

A very classy move by the Boston Bruins’ fans to not boo the Canadian national anthem after it was booed by the losers in Quebec.

Also, Mo Cheeks is the man for coming to the rescue of Natalie Gilbert who clearly has the talent but got a little stage fright in front of a packed house at a basketball game.

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Since there are only 19 days left until pitchers and catcher report for spring training, baseball predictions and projections are starting to appear left and right with the Baseball Prospectus one really sticking out in my mind. I will just mention a couple of quick things right now and probably a more in-depth post before the regular season starts in a couple of months.

As of today, they have the Washington Nationals finishing at .500 (81-81) something they have not done since 2005 and finish 3rd in the NL East – another feat they have only accomplished once in the past 12 years (and they were the Montreal Expos at the time). Another good thing for the Nationals franchise is that the Montreal Expos will have a second item in their name in the Baseball Hall of Fame as Andre Dawson will be the sole inductee and will go in wearing an Expos hat.

I am not really surprised to see the Blue Jays projected to finish at 73-89 after their dumping of Roy Halladay and considering how they only won 75 games last year with Doc, I think that just might be a reach but crazier things have happened, so one can only hope. I think the Jays’ offense is being severely undervalued at the projection of only 726 runs which puts them last in the AL and bottom 6 in the entire MLB.

Finally, I hope that this year the New York Mets will not try to sell to their fans a major league team with a minor league roster. A very nice addition for them in Left with Jason Bay but they still have Pagan, Castillo, Murphy and a catcher which makes for a rather weak lineup in the NL East if they want to dethrone the Phillies especially if they are not aggressively trying to upgrade their pitching rotation. Mets at 78-84 is about what everyone is expecting but an upgraded part or two can certainly make them a contender with a win total in the mid-80s.

According to a recent Pew Poll report, the number of Americans who do not know the basic information like the national unemployment rate or how many votes it takes to break a filibuster is quite staggering. It is embarrassing that those aged 18-29 did the worst in the survey of 12 questions by averaging under 4 questions correct where the other groups, although not doing much better, averaged roughly 6 questions correct.

I just took the survey and got all 12 correct but I will put the questions below this section and a link to the correct answers at the end of the post. How many can you get right?

1. The national unemployment rate is at what percentage?
2. Do you happen to know how many women sit on the U.S. Supreme Court?
3. As far as you know, which foreign country holds the most U.S. government debt?
4. As far as you know, about how much of the oil consumed annually in the U.S. is imported?
5. How many Republican senators voted to pass the health care reform bill in its vote on the Senate floor?
6. In the United States Senate, opponents to legislation can delay a vote by filibustering. Do you know how many senators are needed to break a filibuster and bring a bill to the floor?
7. Thinking about the man who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day… Which country do intelligence officials believe he was trained and given materials for the bomb?
8. During the entire year of 2009, do you happen to know if there were more American military fatalities in Iraq or Afghanistan?
9. Do you happen to know if the Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently closer to:
10. Do you happen to know the name of the current majority leader of the U.S. Senate?
11. Do you happen to what Stephen Colbert’s profession is?
12. Can you name the chairperson of the Republican National Committee?

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I had first heard about him back in 10th when a teacher of mine, Ms. Pfeffer (who I still consider as one of the two best teachers I had of all time), introduced our class to a chapter from a book called “A People’s History of the United States.” I had never heard of either the book or the author named Howard Zinn prior to that moment but I can safely point to that day in 2002 that changed me. Until earlier today, I don’t think I ever thanked Ms. Pfeffer for that brief introduction but I took care of that and let me thank her here again.

I think we only read one chapter for our class regarding how the farmers of the Shay’s Rebellion should be considered the real heroes in the true history of the United States of America. It certainly peaked my curiosity and I went on to read the whole book which questioned why the initial union organizers did not receive much credit over the course of history or why the founding fathers, for all the good they did, still were considered with such glamor since they were slave owners themselves.

At a time when few politicians dared even call themselves liberal, “A People’s History” told an openly left-wing story. Zinn charged Christopher Columbus and other explorers with genocide, picked apart presidents from Andrew Jackson to Franklin D. Roosevelt and celebrated workers, feminists and war resisters.

During the civil rights movement, Zinn encouraged his students to request books from the segregated public libraries and helped coordinate sit-ins at downtown cafeterias. Zinn also published several articles, including a then-rare attack on the Kennedy administration for being too slow to protect blacks.

We can all learn a little from this little seven year old kid who was rescued today after being stuck under earthquake rubble for over a week. When asked why he smiled so broadly, Kiki responded, “I smiled because I was free, I smiled because I was alive.”

Moral of the story: Stop taking what you have for granted.

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